, and we should all be knocked on the head and thrown into the
sea together."

"Fight! fight! Who is talking about fighting?" shrieked Mrs Van Deck.
"We can't fight, and we won't fight. We will ask the pirates, or
whatever the black gentlemen may be, to be civil; and I am sure that
they are more likely to be so if we are submissive, than if we were to
try and turn them out of their vessels, which we could not do."

I must own, now I come to reflect calmly on the subject, that there was
some wisdom in Mrs Van Deck's observations. As a rule, it is folly to
threaten unless we can perform, or to fight unless one has a fair chance
of success. Our chance of success was certainly very small; but still I
could not help thinking we should have some, especially if we could get
on board one of the afterward vessels; and anything was better than the
slavery to which we should be doomed.

On came the prahus. The southern division had not seen us, and had
already got to the westward of us; but the northern line was
approaching, and would pass most dangerously near where we were--perhaps
a little to the south. We almost held our breaths with anxiety. A
slight change of wind might make them alter their course rather more
away from us; but that was scarcely to be expected. Our glasses now
showed us clearly what sort of vessels were in our neighbourhood, and
made every shadow of doubt as to their character vanish completely.
Their threatening and ominous aspect was increased, from their dark
sails appearing against the glowing mass of light, which covered the
whole eastern part of the sky from the zenith, growing still more
intense towards the horizon, whence we expected the sun every instant to
appear. The vessels we now saw were of considerable size, capable of
carrying some hundred and fifty men or more. The lower part was built
of solid wood-planks and timbers, like the vessels of European nations,
but the upper works and decks were chiefly of bamboo, ingeniously
fastened together. The bows were very sharp, the beam was great, and in
length they exceeded ninety feet. The after part had a cabin or poop
deck; and a raised deck, or platform, ran right fore and aft, for the
purpose of affording standing room to the fighting men, of whom Fairburn
told me we should find some forty or fifty on board. The platform was
narrower than the beam, except forward, where it expanded to the full
width, and where there was a strong bulk